The nuclear pore complex of eukaryotic cells senses the mechanical directionality of translocating proteins, favouring the passage of those that have a leading mechanically labile region. Adding an unstructured, mechanically weak peptide tag to a translocating protein increases its rate of nuclear import and accumulation, suggesting a biotechnological strategy to enhance the delivery of molecular cargos into the cell nucleus.
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References
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This is a summary of: Panagaki, F. et al. Structural anisotropy results in mechano-directional transport of proteins across nuclear pores. Nat. Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02438-8 (2024).
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Mechanical asymmetry in nucleocytoplasmic protein transport. Nat. Phys. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02452-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02452-w
